Edda II
by Pegasa Black
Summary: There is more to Norse Mythology than meets the eye. Sure you have heard of Odin and Loki but what about Njord or even Mimir? Well, our Hero Erik has gone to find out more.


There was once a man named Erik son of King Gylfi, who lived in a far off land of Sweden. His father had always spoken of his meeting with the Æsir and the stories they had told him. Erik, however, wanted to find out more about the Æsir and decided to venture out to find the hall, Asgard, in which his father had spoken so often. But the Æsir, being all knowing, saw that Gylfi's son was on his way, and had decided that it was unwise to speak with this boy, for they felt they could tell him no more than they had already told Gylfi.

As Erik was riding along in the woods on his way to Asgard, an old woman whose face was half-shrouded by a long dark cloak crossed his path. She had asked Erik for a bit of food if he could spare it. Erik gladly gave the old woman half a loaf of bread. The woman in return gave Erik a piece of advice, "For your kindness, I shall tell you this: you would do well not to go to Asgard, for there lays only death for you noble Gylfison. You would do better turning around and going to Vanaheim where they who are not of the Æsir may give you what you seek. Ask for Njord, god of the sea, and he will be of the most help to you."

Erik thanked her and rode off in the opposite direction towards Vanaheim. When the woman saw Erik leave, she was carried off by two ravens. Erik traveled for many weeks, and just as winter was about to plague the land, Erik came across a grand hall upon the sea. It was tall and red shields were the roof and gold was its walls. The door swung open as Erik approached the hall. The inside of the hall was just as splendid as the outside. On the walls hung 6 noble shields, and in the middle of the room there was a raging blue fire. At the end of the hall sat a male figure and around the hall sat five other figures that stared at Erik as he approached the figure at the end of the hall. Erik bowed.

"Welcome Erik son of Gylfi to Vanaheim," said the man at the end of the hall.

"Are you the great god Njord," asked Erik, "who guides my father's ships across the seas?"

"Yes," said Njord, "I am he. Why have you journeyed so far from your home to seek an audience with the Vanir?"

"Please oh great god Njord," said Erik still on one knee, "My father had visited the Æsir not too long ago and speaks of great deeds of the gods. But I wish to find out more stories about the gods who rule over the humans of this world."

"If you ask questions," said Njord, "I will answer them."

"I wish to know, who are the gods that make up the Vanir?" asked Erik curiously.

"There are not many of us," started Njord, "There are my children Freyr and Freyja. Though we three live in Asgard, we have been permitted to spend this winter among the rest of our kin. Odin has already told your father about them and undoubtingly about me as well. Kvasir is the wisest of all beings and can see far off into the future. Honir and Mimir are not of our kin but live here as a token of good will by the Æsir. Honir is a fool and knows next to nothing about anything. He clings tightly to his brother Mimir who is also wise, but not as wise as Kvasir."

"How is it that the battle between the Æsir and the Vanir came to be?" asked Erik.

For this question Kvasir answered, "It was a long time ago now, back when the world had just been created. The two families lived in peace in the hall of Asgard. All was happy and peaceful until Loki, a young boy at the time, went wondering out among the woods by himself. Laufey, Loki's mother, started to look for her son, but could not find him. She pleaded for the boy's father, Farbauti, to aid in the search. He found Loki standing in front of the monster, Nacken by the edge of a fjord. He has the torso and head of a beautiful youth but the rest of him was in the shape of a horse only his hooves were backwards. He has long been ally to the Vanir and now guards the treasure hold of Njord in the deepest part of the sea. Loki had his hand behind his back and looked at his father and mother in shame. Nacken explained to the giants that Loki had stolen his ring, Var [Beloved, and that he would not give it back. Loki said that he had won the ring fairly and that Var belonged to him. Laufey decided that the two should present their case to Forseti, who provides justice among us.

"Both went in front of Forseti who heard Loki's side of the story first. Loki told Forseti that he had come across Nacken while fishing in the fjord. Loki saw the ring and wished to have it. Nacken thought about it for a bit and decided to race Loki across the fjord, which was rather big for a young boy like Loki. Loki agreed and got to the other side first. Nacken outraged said that Loki did not swim in the middle like he did but rather swam across the shorter end. Forseti, after hearing both sides, took a while before reaching a decision. He said that the ring in fact belonged to Nacken because Loki did not win fairly.

"Afterwards, Loki decided to spy on Nacken to find out what he could about him. As it turns out, Var gave any man who wore it, the power to lead an army in Ragnarok. Loki knew that to have this ring would mean that he would be a great king. So while, Nacken lay sleeping, Loki stole the ring and brought it back to Asgard. The Vanir and the Æsir looked at the ring and began to argue what to do with it. None of them wanted to return such a powerful ring. Then they began to argue among themselves who should posses the ring, surely not Loki because he was too young. The Æsir started to argue that Odin, the eldest, should have the ring and rule over all of the Earth. The Vanir wanted Njord to rule because he was the eldest among them, and even older than Odin.

"Then they too went to Forseti and asked who had the power to rule over the world and the gods. Forseti knew that both men had equal standing and power within their own families and even among the world. Forseti judged that they only way to settle this argument was to have a trail by combat between the Æsir and the Vanir. So we fought. The battle lasted for days on end, but eventually we gave up because, although no one had died or been injured, we realized that we did not want power badly enough to continue the battle. A truce was made, and Odin was given the right to rule over the gods and the world. It is not known to the Æsir, but during the battle, Loki took the ring and fed it to a snake. It is this snake that now drips its poison onto Loki's head and he and his wife wait patiently for the ring to come out of the snake's mouth. My kinsman, Honir, Mimir, and I have sworn not to reveal this to the Æsir, for if they knew this secret, then another war would break out and it would be worse than Ragnarok."

"That is truly a sad tale," said Erik now sitting down on the floor, "I have heard many times of these rings of power, how did they come into being?"

"The dwarves," said Freyr, "guard this secret carefully. It is because of them that both gods and humans cling to rings to give them power over others. Dwarves sprouted from the ground and by our grace were given human likeness and thought . While they live in the mountains, they mine day in and day out. With their vast amounts of treasure, they guard them secretly and greedily. What the Vanir and the Æsir did not realize was that in giving the dwarves human-like features, we gave them magical powers as well. The dwarves found this out by accident, when one day a dwarf named Gandalf was making a ring from the gold his son had mined. Gandalf had put the almost completed ring in the fire, when he pricked his finger on something sharp. A drop of blood landed upon the ring in the fire. When Gandalf had finished the ring, he put it on his finger and named it Halvard [Defender of the Rock. He looked at the ring for a bit and then noticed that the ring began to glow very brightly, almost as bright as the sun. Soon afterwards, all dwarves placed drops of their blood within the rings they made, as well as other metal objects. Different blood made the objects do different things. Some rings granted great strength and others granted power beyond all reckoning.

"It just so happened that one day, a man by the name of Odell walked by the mountains and saw Gandalf fiddling with Halvard. Odell just stared at the ring suspiciously, but could not help to admire it. He approached the dwarf and asked how much he would have to pay for the ring. 'Too much for you to buy,' said the dwarf, 'but I will give it to you if you slay the dragon that lives in the neighboring mountain. My kinsmen have been long plagued by his presence in our trove. Bring back his heart and I will give you the ring Halvard.'

"So it was that Odell took his sword, Brisingr, and went into the mountain where the dragon dwelled. He found the dragon standing upon a mountain of gold. They fought and Odell was victorious. Odell looked at the mountain of gold and went to get two sacks in order to fill with the dwarves' treasure. He did not want to leave any of it behind but he thought that two bags missing would go unnoticed. He then cut out the heart and presented it to Gandalf. True to his word, Gandalf reluctantly gave Odell Halvard. Halvard brought the ring and the gold back to his people and took control of the surrounding lands. Soon other men wanted rings that gave them power to rule. Then it came time when the great Odin wanted a ring to prove his power over all. He did receive one and since then the ring, Draupnir, has been in his keeping."

When Freyr had finished, Erik looked amazed at the story he had just heard. The ring Halvard was the name of the ring that his father owned and he now grew impatient to inherit it. Njord saw this in Erik's face and warned him against taking such violent actions. Erik then calmed down and soon forgot the matter. Erik still had one more question to ask the Vanir.

"I have heard talk of a land in the east called Rus," Erik said, "The men who went on a campaign there heard talk of another thunder god as well as other gods similar to the Æsir and Vanir. Who are the real gods that my people should worship?"

"This is a story that I fear even you have not heard Njord," said Mimir, "Thor keeps this story more secret than Odin and Loki and Thor only told me the story once after he had been drinking too much mead. In the far eastern parts of this world where the rest of your kind live, there lived two frost giants whose names have been lost over the years in the west. They gave birth to three sons. The eldest, Perkuno, could control thunder similar to Thor. The second was Patollo, who gave humans victory in war, and the third was Potrimpo who made everything fertile in the cold lands. One day Odin, Thor and Loki spotted these brothers and could not help but wonder who they were. When all of them met, they each stared at each other. The resemblance between all of them and their kin was too much for the three Æsir to handle. So they fought for glory. Odin won against Patollo and Loki won against Potrimpo, but Thor and Perkuno were still fighting when the other battles had finished. Their strength was matched exactly, until Thor was knocked to the ground. Perkuno lunged to kill Thor in order to avenge the death of his brothers, but Thor stuck his sword into Perkuno's heart and came out victorious. Thor, Odin and Loki since then have remained silent about other gods who may also challenge their authority. Worship them for they have come out victorious against lesser gods."

Erik felt satisfied and was surprised to see that they whole winter had gone by when he looked outside. Erik said his good-byes to the Vanir and went back to his father. He told everyone all that he had learned and his people remained content. There they stay until Ragnarok.


End file.
